SAA 2019

[LynxLax]

The year after losing both conference players of the year, the lynx still take down the vikings. The seniors for Rhodes have never lost to and will never lose to Berry in the regular season. The lynx have certainly cemented themselves as the front runners for the conference and show no signs of stopping 2 1/2 year regular season conference winning streak.

[boxrec103]

Centre over Transylvania at home Wednesday night by a score of 14-11. In a game of runs, Centre got the last one and was able to eke out another good victory. Centre won the GB advantage and more than held their own at the X. Next up is 4-7 Oglethorpe, and then a tough match up against Rhodes in Memphis.

[saltlaxcity]

Wondering what's going on with Sewanee...two strong wins over Colorado College and Springfield, then dropping one to Transylvania and barely escaping an OT win with BSC. Interested to see how their game with Berry will go this weekend. Definitely wouldn't count Sewanee out until the final whistle blows. Plenty of SAA matchups left, maybe the two most interesting games left are Sewanee/Berry and Centre/Rhodes? From the looks of the past few seasons, The Centre/Rhodes has game been a very tight one, with Rhodes winning 8-7 the past two years. Good luck to all in the closing weekends of conference play.

[BroughtTheJuice]

Feel as though Rhodes deserves more respect for their consistent dominance over the past 2.5-3 seasons. Berry continues to struggle against the more skilled teams (Sewanee and Rhodes) due to their physicality and dirty tactics not being as scary as they think they are. Until Berry becomes a more skilled team, they will always struggle against Rhodes and Sewanee (I guess Centre now too). Centre always finds a way to play everyone tough as they seemed to be having relatively good skill players with good energy, heart, and discipline.

Quick note about end of the season awards, #99 of Rhodes deserves DPOY as he seldom gets beat and has locked down every team's best offensive threat over the last two seasons.

That being said, long way to go and beating a team twice is always hard, but looking like another Rhodes vs. Sewanee final in Memphis.

[parallax]

Agree with previous post. Rhodes' defense has dominated the SAA for 3 straight seasons and their seniors on that side of the field are stellar. Henry Hasbrouck (#99), Matthew Simon (#26), Austin Le (#15), Noah Daniel (#17)...and goalie Cameron Link (#10...who is having an All-American performance season) do not get the credit they deserve. Lots of lacrosse left to play and anything can happen, but defense has defined this team. This is precisely why Centre and Rhodes are well matched. Both teams emphasize defense...and "Defense wins championships."

[southlaxfacts]

^ looks like a bunch of Rhodes players found the forums and decided to make accounts and toot their own horns

[saltlaxcity]

^I believe Rhodes parents**

[boxrec103]

Rhodes beat Centre 16-8 at home. The Colonels had a chance to make a game of it early, but couldn't hit cage on middie inverts and/or got stuffed by a hot goalie (Bullis HS). As the game wore on, the Lynx were able dominate 50-50 balls at the X, gain possession and slice up Centre's 3-3 zone with timely middie cuts. After a close first quarter I think it was 8-1 at the half. When Rhodes was able to get out on the break, they got goals from their two LSMs from McDonough. An impressive performance, both in terms of lacrosse skills and athleticism.

[droliver]

Berry takes down Birmingham Southern 14-10 in a fairly competitive game after taking a 7-1 lead. Berry's face off game was lights out winning 25 of 27(!) FO's to secure a home game in the SAA playoffs. Not exactly sure how the tie breaker works, but unless Sewanee upsets Rhodes, there's a 3 way tie for second with Sewanee, Berry, and Centre all finishing 4-2 and trading losses with each other. If it works like I think it does with the tiebreaker, Berry is the 4 seed (? worst overall record of the 3 schools tied up), Berry and BSC may be playing again next week.

[boxrec103]

Centre over Hendrix 9-0. Efficient though unspectacular offensive performance by the Colonels. The Warriors were game, but couldn't solve the Centre 3-3 zone or goalie Connor Jongewaard. Next up -- the SAA Tournament and a possible logjam at second place overall in the conference.

[boxrec103]

According to a Centre presser, "the Colonels finish the regular season 10-4 overall and 4-2 in the Southern Athletic Association, earning the two-seed in the upcoming conference tournament based on a tiebreaker over Berry and Sewanee (fewest goals allowed in conference play)." Great job coach Zimmerman. In is first year he's done a lot with an offense that has a limited capability to break down athletic defenders, and has used a combination of zone and man-to-man -- coupled with excellent goal tending -- to hold most teams in check so far this spring.

[droliver]

Centre's goalie is VERY good and they've had a fantastic season in and out of conference play.

That being said, it's not hard to see Centre losing in the conference tournament to any of the other potential teams they might run into this year in the semifinal (Sewanee, Berry, or BSC) as close as a lot of those games have been. Not sure anyone can hang with Rhodes this season

[Handoverhamd]

Feel as though Rhodes deserves more respect for their consistent dominance over the past 2.5-3 seasons. Berry continues to struggle against the more skilled teams (Sewanee and Rhodes) due to their physicality and dirty tactics not being as scary as they think they are. Until Berry becomes a more skilled team, they will always struggle against Rhodes and Sewanee (I guess Centre now too). Centre always finds a way to play everyone tough as they seemed to be having relatively good skill players with good energy, heart, and discipline.

Quick note about end of the season awards, #99 of Rhodes deserves DPOY as he seldom gets beat and has locked down every team's best offensive threat over the last two seasons.

That being said, long way to go and beating a team twice is always hard, but looking like another Rhodes vs. Sewanee final in Memphis.

Berry has scored the most goals and points in the conference since 2015 every year, with the exception of 16. They are second right now.

[Nosey Ned]

Centre's goalie is VERY good and they've had a fantastic season in and out of conference play.

That being said, it's not hard to see Centre losing in the conference tournament to any of the other potential teams they might run into this year in the semifinal (Sewanee, Berry, or BSC) as close as a lot of those games have been. Not sure anyone can hang with Rhodes this season

Centre's head coach Grant Zimmerman was a coup for this program. He was an outstanding coach at Denison and a very big part of their defensive success the previous 3 years - not to mention an outstanding goalie in his own right at North Carolina so I'm not surprised to hear that "Centre's goalie is VERY good".

I predict this program - once he gets his first 2 or so recruiting classes in and has them running his system - will become a perennial power in the SAA.

[BroughtTheJuice]

Feel as though Rhodes deserves more respect for their consistent dominance over the past 2.5-3 seasons. Berry continues to struggle against the more skilled teams (Sewanee and Rhodes) due to their physicality and dirty tactics not being as scary as they think they are. Until Berry becomes a more skilled team, they will always struggle against Rhodes and Sewanee (I guess Centre now too). Centre always finds a way to play everyone tough as they seemed to be having relatively good skill players with good energy, heart, and discipline.

Quick note about end of the season awards, #99 of Rhodes deserves DPOY as he seldom gets beat and has locked down every team's best offensive threat over the last two seasons.

That being said, long way to go and beating a team twice is always hard, but looking like another Rhodes vs. Sewanee final in Memphis.

Berry has scored the most goals and points in the conference since 2015 every year, with the exception of 16. They are second right now.

And where have those statistics gotten them...?

[Handoverhamd]

Feel as though Rhodes deserves more respect for their consistent dominance over the past 2.5-3 seasons. Berry continues to struggle against the more skilled teams (Sewanee and Rhodes) due to their physicality and dirty tactics not being as scary as they think they are. Until Berry becomes a more skilled team, they will always struggle against Rhodes and Sewanee (I guess Centre now too). Centre always finds a way to play everyone tough as they seemed to be having relatively good skill players with good energy, heart, and discipline.

Quick note about end of the season awards, #99 of Rhodes deserves DPOY as he seldom gets beat and has locked down every team's best offensive threat over the last two seasons.

That being said, long way to go and beating a team twice is always hard, but looking like another Rhodes vs. Sewanee final in Memphis.

Berry has scored the most goals and points in the conference since 2015 every year, with the exception of 16. They are second right now.

And where have those statistics gotten them...?

Some very good teams. You said they weren't skilled and you couldn't be more wrong. They have not had a goalie who is strong in quite a while. Maybe that is the factor you were looking to point out.

But Rhodes continues to roll.

Whoever is the healthiest team wins, it is that simple at the end of the season.

[droliver]

Close win for Sewanee over BSC in overtime, their second OT win against the Panthers this season, both at home. BSC had 3 quality shots on goal before a transition score by Sewanee closed it out in extra time.

Sewanee vs Berry next week ought to be another close one.

[Dub]

On Friday:
Sewanee plays Rhodes
Berry plays Centre

[Cavitee]

Rhodes once again defeats Sewanee. That’s four in a row and other than some close first halves, this rivalry hasn’t been competitive...

[boxrec103]

Berry beat Centre last night 9-6, to avenge a regular-season loss. Didn't get to see the game, but looking at the box score Berry apparently dominated the GB battle, possessions and shots on goal. Centre's offense has struggled to get untracked at times against athletic teams that press out, and perhaps that was the formula Berry used to stifle the Colonel's offense and create some 19 turnovers. Will have to watch the tape later. Junior goalie Connor Jongewaard, the SAA Defensive Player of the Year, was strong in cage again, recording 16 saves. Centre ends the season 10-5 under first year coach Grant Zimmerman. Congratulations to Coach Z and the boys on a fine year. Centre only graduates two seniors, so it there is a strong foundation to build on. Should be a spirited championship game between Berry and Rhodes.